The legendary devil fruit of the Giant Kingdom is also known as the national treasure of Elbaf.
Seven didn't harbor any illusions about successfully taking Terre and the Devil Fruit without attracting any attention.
It seemed impossible no matter how he thought about it.
With layers of guards and heavy security, as well as Giant King Harald, who was on par with Rocks, not to mention Terre was a tsundere squirrel; to gain its approval, he had to defeat Terre first.
Instead of being discovered while trying to gain Terre's approval, it was better to talk to the Giant King openly.
"Hmm?"
Harald never expected Beelzebul to barge in so openly; he thought there would at least be some schemes or tricks.
Could he be a straightforward person?
Coming alone to the Elbaf royal palace late at night, Harald had to admit this kid was a bit reckless.
"Beelzebul, what brings a pirate like you here so late at night?"
Seven jumped onto a chair and sat down, took out several jars of Dandelion Wine, and manipulated the liquid to turn into a water dragon, pouring it into the wine bowl in front of Harald.
"Have a couple of drinks first? Then we talk?"
Harald's gaze froze for a few seconds; in Beelzebul, he actually saw the Rocks of back then: the same confidence, the same arrogance.
As if anything in the world, as long as they wanted to do it, they would certainly succeed.
"Interesting, interesting."
Picking up the wine bowl and drinking it in one gulp, Harald's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but think of the rumors about Beelzebul circulating on the sea.
"Rumor has it that you conquered Roger with your culinary skills to get the chance to board his ship; now I believe it.
The wine is indeed very good.
For the sake of this bowl of fine wine, I won't hold your late-night intrusion into the palace against you.
Speak, what do you want to talk about?"
Seven took out several more jars of Dandelion Wine, filling the wine bowl in front of Harald in the form of a water dragon.
"I'm missing a crew member on my ship, and it just so happens he is in this palace, so I came to say hello to you."
Harald frowned, the scars on both sides of his forehead wrinkling as he asked tentatively.
"Loki?"
Rumors on the sea say that Emperor of the Sea Barzebu has very high standards; even though his momentum is strong, he rarely takes the initiative to recruit crew members.
Beelzebul wanting to invite Loki onto his ship was within Harald's expectations.
Loki was his son after all, also inheriting the bloodline of the Ancient Giant Race, with a lineage and talent that stood at the top of the entire Giant Kingdom.
But how could the heir of Elbaf become a pirate, especially now when Elbaf was at the critical stage of becoming a Member Nation of the World Government.
However, Harald heard—
"Loki is fine too?"
"But both the east blue emperor and the attacking titan are too small; if the Giant King can provide a sufficient amount of adam tree wood."
"I can accept Loki joining the ship!"
At this, Harald was greatly surprised.
"Not Loki? It couldn't be me, right?"
Are you kidding? Why would I give up being the Giant King to join your Morning Star Pirates? Am I, Harald, stupid, or are you, Beelzebul, brain-dead?
Seven helplessly interrupted to prevent Harald from blurting out more nonsensical answers.
"Terre, it's Terre."
"I want to invite Terre to join the ship."
After the words fell, there was a long silence; after a long time, Harald clutched his stomach with one hand and kept slapping the table with the other.
"Hwahahaha~"
"How many years has it been? How many years has it been since I met such an interesting fellow like you?"
Loki, with the Ancient Giant bloodline, and the other Giant Race warriors—Beelzebul didn't invite any of them, but instead invited a hammer to join the ship.
"How do you know about Terre?"
Seven shrugged: "I not only know about Terre, but I also know about the legendary devil fruit Terre guards, and the mark on your shoulder."
Hearing about the mark on his shoulder, Harald finally couldn't sit still and widened his eyes in disbelief.
"Are you also one of the World Government's people?"
Seven didn't answer, but instead changed the subject: "How about we cooperate?"
"Cooperate?" Harald was even more confused.
Trespassing into someone's home in the middle of the night just to talk about cooperation? No matter how you think about it, there's something wrong.
"Let's go outside and have a fight first; not just anyone can cooperate with Elbaf."
Seven stood up and smiled: "I had the same intention."
Some people call Harald a larger version of Oden, but Seven didn't quite agree; even if Oden had stayed on Roger's ship for a while, how could Oden compare to Harald?
When Harald took over Elbaf, the Giant Race living in Elbaf were described by the world as violent maniacs and savages.
Even the former Marine Giant Vice Admiral Saulo thought the giants of Elbaf were relatively savage; from this, it's not hard to see how bad the impression of the Giant Race was.
Yet Harald was able to make a huge change in people's perception of the Giant Race—governing a savage tribe into a civilized society; this alone was something Oden couldn't compare to.
Oden walked a path to death out of ten thousand paths to life, while Harald had no path to life at all.
After the God Valley incident,
Harald cut off his own horns to atone for his sins and serve the World Government, and successively signed the shallow sea contract and deep sea contract with Imu.
In the end, realizing he would be completely controlled by Imu and was about to commit irreversible evil, Harald gave up resistance and died under Loki's hammer.
In short,
Harald naively believed in the World Government, believing that after he became a God's Knight, Elbaf could become a Member Nation of the World Government and obtain peace and stability like other Member Nations.
Most importantly, Harald couldn't defeat Imu and the World Government.
Of course, these are conclusions drawn from a God's perspective; if Seven were the Giant King, he would most likely choose to trade bases with Imu.
You use Uranus to destroy my Inazuma, and I'll use El Thor to blow up the Holy Land Mary Geoise.
Come on, let's deal DMG to each other.
So Seven chose to cooperate with the World Government, at least at this stage where there is no better way to oppose Imu, he would continue to cooperate.
At the lowest level of the adam tree, the Underworld.
Because Harald had already signed the shallow sea contract with Imu, Seven decided to make it quick, lest that woman Imu descend through the contract.
Why must they fight.
Because equality of strength is the basis of negotiation; negotiations without equal strength are meaningless.
Try letting Ohara talk to the World Government? They'll wipe you out with a Buster Call in minutes.
"Draw your sword, Beelzebul."
"Let me see if the so-called King of the Next Generation is worthy of the name."
Regarding the great pirate who rose strongly in just three years, Harald's chest was filled with a long-lost fighting intent, and in an instant, he pushed his state to the limit.
Seven pulled out musou isshin from his chest, concentrating all his energy and spirit into a single point.
"As you wish."
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish~
After striking six consecutive Musou no Hitotachi, Seven struck six more times in the blink of an eye; twelve purple blade lights were like tens of thousands of heavy cavalry, launching a charge forward.
They even completely blocked all directions around Harald: front, back, left, right, up, and down.
Striking twelve times consecutively was not Seven's limit, but this battle was only for negotiation, not to determine superiority or life and death; there was no need to go to extremes.
Harald's expression was grave, his hands tightly gripping the giant axe, pushing his Three Types of Haki to the limit, and he suddenly chopped forward, without any sign of avoiding.
Boom~ Boom~
The deafening sound of explosions overturned the dust, and the thick smoke intertwined with black and red was like a wild wave of ink, sweeping out in all directions.
Before long, a burst of wild laughter pierced through the rolling smoke.
"Speak, what do you want to talk about."